


Bucky Works Out

by USS_Gaytanic



Category: Bucky Barnes - Fandom, Iron Man - Fandom, MCU, Marvel, Tony Stark - Fandom, WinterIron - Fandom
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-06
Updated: 2016-03-06
Packaged: 2018-05-25 03:31:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,630
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6178585
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/USS_Gaytanic/pseuds/USS_Gaytanic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Inspired by a random prompt: <br/>“you jog shirtless past my house every morning au“<br/>Obviously I changed it a bit but basically it’s non-sweaty Bucky and workshop Tony and awkward adorableness. <br/>(Also I read entirely too much modern-queer-bucky-au fic so there’s a tiny nod to that near the end.)</p>
    </blockquote>





	Bucky Works Out

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by a random prompt:   
> “you jog shirtless past my house every morning au“  
> Obviously I changed it a bit but basically it’s non-sweaty Bucky and workshop Tony and awkward adorableness.   
> (Also I read entirely too much modern-queer-bucky-au fic so there’s a tiny nod to that near the end.)

Tony is hard at work downstairs, has been since last evening, when JARVIS interrupts between blaring songs to suggest breakfast. Tony predictably ignores this and continues working. As he shakes his head, he catches a glimpse of movement on the staircase, and black boots quickly disappearing upward. 

Oh, well. If it was actually important, they could always get a hold of him via speakers. Who goes down steps anymore these days, anyways? You just talk to people through walls. The magic of technology. 

Tony shrugs it off and doesn’t notice the numerous subsequent appearances of not only black boots, but the black uniform above it, repeatedly pausing for a fraction of a second on the lower level, then shooting back up just as suddenly.   
—  
A week later, Tony is leaning against the workbench while analyzing blueprints. JARVIS has cut off power to his tools and basically forced him to drink a protein shake, so he might as well multitask. 

The movement brings Tony’s sight through the hologram to focus on Creepy Soldier, Steve’s best buddy and the newest resident of the Tower. The man isn’t there for much more than a second or two before he’s flying back up the steps, surprisingly weightless and deft in those huge murder-boots he always wears. 

Tony’s eyebrows involuntarily shoot up as he puzzles for a moment. A thousand possible explanations flit through his mind. Guy didn’t know this was Tony’s level and ran away, surprised? Needed something but someone called to never mind through the speakers? Wanted something from him but chickened out? He remembers how weirded out Steve was at first by the talking building, maybe this guy feels the same, and came all the way down instead of using the coms. 

Tony goes back to his work once he swallows the last of his shake, and this time keeps and eye out in case Creepy comes back. 

Which he does. Multiple times. After the third time, Tony finally gets it. He’s excersizing! Running up and down the stairs! When there’s a perfectly good gym, complete with a state-of-the-art climber machine, a few floors away! What a weirdo. Tony feels a smile struggling to settle on his face.  
—  
“Hey, Cap, tell your crazy friend he’s welcome to use the gym anytime,” Tony calls from the hall on the way past Steve’s studio. 

“What do you mean?” Steve asks, and Tony pauses, peering into the room. He smirks at Steve’s worried face.

“He’s using my staircase– all ninety three flights of it– to work out,” Tony explains. His face says the rest: an expression of bewilderment and playful exasperation.

Steve nods and smirks before he goes back to painting what looks like a presidential-style portrait of Sam Wilson. “Oh, sure. I’ll tell him.” Steve assures. It seems almost like sarcasm, but Tony lets it go. 

Why does he let these crazy people live in his tower? Why?  
 —  
Tony turns away from the workbench and almost has a heart attack. Creepy Soldier is staring at him, face inches away from the glass wall. His face is expressionless, which on this guy looks like he’s about to set the whole building, and everyone in it, on fire, in spite of the sleeveless shirt, sweatpants, and messy man-bun (Really? A man-bun? What is he, a damn hipster?) he’s donned instead of the usual uniform. 

Tony takes a second to relearn how to breathe, then switches on the intercom. 

“What the hell, man?” 

There’s no answer, and Tony continues, only half-joking. 

“Those walls are tested up to Nuke-proof, by the way.”

No answer, and look at that, he’s still wearing the damn boots, what is with this guy? 

“Did you need something, or…?”

Bucky looks at Tony and attempts what turns out to be not too terrifying of a smile. 

“Thanks for the gym invitation.”

“Uhhh… No problem?”

“I just prefer the stairs. All those machines… They kinda… They’re too futuristic for me.” 

Tony nods, trying to ignore the thoughts that invade his mind as Bucky shakes his head like a damn supermodel to clear a lock of escaped hair from his face.

“Okay. Sure. No problem,” Tony repeats. He can’t seem to think of anything better, not with those arms on full display. Both of them are distracting him, for two very different reasons.   
Bucky nods, seemingly finished with the conversation. 

“Go get ‘em, tiger!” It slips out as Bucky trots back toward the stairs, and Tony almost facepalms it’s so embarrassing. 

Bucky lifts a hand in acknowledgement without turning back. 

Tony doesn’t get to see the tiny, genuine smile that slides onto Bucky’s face as he starts back upstairs. 

—   
The next time Tony is in the gym, he tries to see it with new eyes. He rests between sets, seated on black leather padding with chained iron weights hanging from pipes on either side of him, and remembers the photos he’s seen in Hydra files. And yeah, he might understand why Bucky isn’t a huge fan of the room.

—   
He’s started to keep track of Bucky’s appearances in the stairwell. They start at 6:04 and change, every morning Tony happens to be down there. He doesn’t admit to himself that maybe he’s been planning his time, that perhaps it’s more than coincidence that he ends up in the workshop more often than he used to be there at 6AM. (He tells himself, deep down, that at least it’s not like he’s waking up that damn early to work, like that would ever happen!) 

In the same way, Bucky tells himself it must be because he’s starting to revert to being a normal human again since the notable lack of Hydra therapy, and he might need to catch his breath a tiny bit after a few laps up and down the building. (Of course that’s it, he’s getting back his human stamina, since super-soldiers don’t need to take excersize breaks. It’s not like Hydra ever let him, anyways.) 

And if he happens to end up pausing for a minute or two on the bottom floor, well, that totally makes sense because it’s the bottom. Not because of Tony, of course not. No correlation whatsoever. And he watches Tony’s gorgeous muscled back shift and flex while he works because, well, what else is he going to do, stare at the walls? 

—   
One morning, Tony thumbs the com switch while Bucky stretches between laps. 

“Want some breakfast? I got healthy shakes. JARVIS makes me drink them, so you know they’re good for you.”

Bucky smiles but shakes his head. “No thanks, I already ate.”

“Yeah, yeah, of course. Can’t work out on an empty stomach, right?” Tony feels himself start to babble and stops in time. 

“Maybe tomorrow.” Bucky is still smiling at Tony, until he turns back up the stairs. 

Tony turns, too, and dumps the second portion of protein powder back in the jar as his own shake finishes blending. 

—   
6:00 AM. Bucky heads down instead of up, a strange mix of nerves and excitement in his stomach.   
He calls to Tony as he nears the bottom of the flight. “How about that brea–” 

The lights are off and the workshop is empty except for roaming bots cleaning up debris from abandoned projects. Tony probably had a meeting or something. No big deal. It’s not like they have an agreed-upon routine or anything; it’s just coincidence, remember?

Bucky’s workout that day is fast and hard, with no rest breaks– he doesn’t seem to need any.

—

 Tony is waiting, leaned against the doorjamb of the workshop, and he straightens up when he hears the familiar rhythm of footsteps descending toward him. It’s been a few days now since their “impromptu” breakfast dates. (Not “dates” but like, you know. Whatever. It’s not a date.) 

Tony jokingly wolf-whistles when Bucky comes into view. “Looking good there, fashionista!” 

Bucky just looks at him with one of his half-smile/half-smirks that Tony knows by now to mean he doesn’t get the joke, but appreciates the sentiment. 

Tony laughs and gestures toward Bucky’s feet. “Nice kicks, it was about time you changed it up.” 

Bucky looks down at himself and smiles. He twists his feet to show off the bright pink and blue sneakers. “Yeah, Nat finally took me shopping. Or, I finally agreed to go, I mean.” 

“They look good on you,” Tony says a bit more seriously. He knows how hard Natasha has been working to get Bucky to leave the Tower. “Come on in and sit down for once, will you?” 

Bucky laughs and follows Tony into the workshop. Instead of sitting down, he automatically scans his surroundings. He’s never been in there before, and isn’t sure what to expect. 

“Ugh, you literally never sit down unless you have to, do you?” Tony playfully complains, leaning himself back against a counter top. 

“Nah, I like to stand,” Bucky replies softly. He lets his eyes roam around the room, taking in the piles of parts and half-built machines instead of meeting Tony’s gaze. There’s something about this room that calls to him. He had thought he would be nervous, maybe since he had expected a sterile, militarily maintained workspace like all the other tech labs he had been in. But this was the opposite. It was totally chaotic and totally… Tony. 

“Like what you see?” Tony asks, breaking into Bucky’s daze and pressing the shake into his hand.   
Bucky snaps back to Tony, and finds himself flustered when their fingers brush as he takes the drink. He’s been out of the game for far too long if that’s all it takes to get to him. 

“Am I that obvious?” He asks, and tries on a new smile for the first time since 1944. He even adds a wink.


End file.
